Like many children in the Village of Berrien Springs, Jennifer Marren had loved the playground at Grove Park. “As a child, it felt like the world’s largest wooden castle,” she says. “It was huge. It was so big. There was a big, tall tower. Perfect hide and seek spots. There was this awesome tire swing that kind of draped down, almost the chandelier from Phantom of the Opera. As a kid, you felt like the king of the hill, or queen of the hill, when you got to be on that tire swing—it was such a cool spot.”

After over 20 years, Wolf’s Prairie Playground, overlooking Lake Chapin, had come to the end of its life. “When we decided to take it down, it was a big loss for the community,” says Marren. “It was one of the most treasured spots in our village. Generations have grown up on that playground.”

In 2026, Marren, now Community Engagement Coordinator for the Village of Berrien Springs, was tasked with developing a new playground, worthy of the old wooden palace on the lake. Inspired by looking at her nephews’ drawings, she decided to take the initial design phase to the “stakeholders themselves” —the local kids.

“I made a template on Canva that said, ‘The New Wolf’s Prairie Playground: We’re inviting you to draw your dream playground, and your ideas might be included in the final design,’” recalls Marren. “We had no idea how much impact it would have.”

Now just a few short weeks from its grand opening, what became termed the “Drawn to Play Playground Project” had taken off. It is the Village of Berrien Springs’ entry for the 2026 Community Excellence Award.

Kids of all ages came to draw, from toddlers to middle schoolers. They sketched zip lines, twisty slides, a boat, a lake with a water gun coming off the back, and sky decks. One little girl drew a multicolored rock-climbing wall. “I hope that these children become future architects, designers, and engineers someday,” says Marren. “Their drawings had dimensions—the zip line should be this far off the slide, and there should be a bridge this high.”

Although the kids hadn’t received any prompting along with their paper and colored pencils, across the board one feature kept getting requested: a zip line.

“So, we were like, of course, we have to have a zip line,” says Marren.

The Village partnered with Great Lakes Recreation, which has led the building and design behind the playground. “As a Village, we’ve been so overjoyed that we found a partner that is as passionate about this project as we are,” says Marren. “They build playgrounds everywhere. But they’ve never seen a playground like this.”

Designers at Great Lakes Recreation, led by Territory Manager Stephanie Habers, took the kids’ drawings and replicated many of the design elements they had illustrated. Lime-green twisty slides rendered in colored pencil became lime-green twisty slides rendered in high-density polyethylene. “We will be the first playground in the state with these custom hand-sculpted pieces,” says Marren. “There’s a little kayak riding a wave. There’s a little camping tent. There’s a life-size campfire.” New swings have been installed along the perimeter, overlooking Lake Chapin. There are two sets of monkey bars.

Great Lakes Recreation is also partnered with the nonprofit Unlimited Play, which helps design inclusive and accessible playgrounds. “We have a school here in town that serves children of all special needs, and so that was very important to us,” says Marren. Natalie Mackay, CEO of Unlimited Play, proofed and reviewed the playground designs done by Great Lakes Recreation to ensure that they met the highest standards of accessibility. The review process has gone through nearly a dozen rounds. “We want to let our community residents and visitors know that we have something for everybody,” says Marren.

For funding, the Village leaned into its community partners. They received a $50,000 commitment from AEP, the electric utility. Marren has applied for several grants and hopes to launch the Public Spaces Community Places matching grant program this month. The Village made its own commitment agreeing to put up $600,000 towards the Drawn to Play project.

Berrien Springs has also been working with Patronicity and MEDC for crowdfunding to cover the final funding gap. “All of our posters have the kids’ drawings on them,” says Marren. “You can see their drawings and then you can see the site now. They’re the ones making this happen. We’re just the ones trying to make it come true.”

“I could not have asked for a better way to engage with our community,” she continues. “To show them that we listen—letting the children know that they have a voice, that it matters, and that if they can share that dream, we can work together to make it reality.”

As a lifelong member of the Berrien Springs community, Marren often gets emotional talking about the Drawn to Play project. “I mean, to see the children’s faces light up right now when they come and see this playground. It’s magical. It’s like Disney World.”

The community ribbon-cutting for the new Wolf’s Prairie Playground will be Friday, June 26. There will be a raffle. Food trucks. Live music. And—best of all—kids will get to play on the playground they designed. “We know we’re not going to be able to keep any kids off of this once the celebration is done,” says Marren.

“I can’t even put it into words. Just seeing them go, ‘Oh my gosh, this is real.’”

Author

Emily Pinsuwan

Emily is the League’s full-time Content Writer, composing emails, articles, blog posts, and press releases. If you need words, she has many. Prior to becoming a word person, she was a restaurant person, handling catering, event management, and marketing; prior still, she was a teaching person, at a private boarding school in Massachusetts. Having earned a master’s degree in Classics from the University of Georgia, Emily is confident that she is the only League employee fluent in Latin. She also enjoys cooking, stand-up comedy, and is an avid gamer, having achieved level 40 on her Steam profile.